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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Colossians 1:9 - 1:9
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
That ye may be filled with (hina plērōthēte). First aorist (effective) passive subjunctive of plēroō, to fill full.
The knowledge of his will (tēn epignōsin tou thelēmatos autou). The accusative case is retained with this passive verb. Epignōsis is a Koiné[28928]š word (Polybius, Plutarch, etc.) for additional (epi) or full knowledge. The word is the keynote of Paul’s reply to the conceit of Gnosticism. The cure for these intellectual upstarts is not ignorance, not obscurantism, but more knowledge of the will of God.
In all spiritual wisdom and understanding (en pasēi sophiāi kai sunesei pneumatikēi). Both pasei (all) and pneumatikēi (spiritual) are to be taken with both sophiāi and sunesei. In Eph 1:8 Paul uses phronēsei (from phrēn, intellect) rather than sunesei (grasp, from suniēmi, to send together). Sunesis is the faculty of deciding in particular cases while sophia gives the general principles (Abbott). Paul faces Gnosticism with full front and wishes the freest use of all one’s intellectual powers in interpreting Christianity. The preacher ought to be the greatest man in the world for he has to deal with the greatest problems of life and death.